The Sight
by CounterHegemonic
Summary: A futuristic world, clinging to the monarchy and refusing to officially acknowledge magic. Matthew Williams, having been tormented with the powers he considers a curse, stumbles upon a town where people can live without having to find magic.
1. Chapter 1

Matthew disembarked the train nervously. There weren't many people getting off at this stop. The ones who didn't gave strange looks. _The town must have a bad reputation. Maybe I should just wait until the next stop. _As if in response, his stomach grumbled. _Guess I'm getting off then. Hopefully, its not that bad. But if it's spirits, I have a feeling I'm going to regret this. _

Matthew possessed a rare, inborn talent, the Sight. The Sight allowed him to see what most couldn't; the otherworld. The world of the supernatural. The world barely recognized by the rest of the population filled with biological impossibilities.

It was more of a curse really. The creatures weren't the worst. He could deal with faeries and dragons bothering him. They didn't try to hurt him; just sometimes they got a little overzealous. The worst part was the people. Ghosts didn't linger long for no reason; so if he was in a cemetery, he didn't have a problem. It was the spirit of humans that bothered him. It was different from ghost in a way no one had ever had to explain to him; he just knew. Ghosts cried a lot; about life or what they didn't accomplish and were usually gone in a couple days. He learned to ignore them.

Spirits were the horrifying images of humans that were murdered. They remained the same as they were in death and would decay over time; flesh rotting of their bones. They would stay close to the person that killed them, cursing the person with every breath. And once they noticed Matthew could see them, they would glide toward him, grabbing onto him and dragging him with them for no purpose other than sheer malice. He would know then; who was the murderer, who had killed some person and taken away their future.

The Sight was a curse. It had ruined his life. He just wanted it all to go away; he wanted to be normal, to have friends, a job, a house, money. Sadly, that hadn't happened.

Matthew looked around the train station. A quaint town square was around him. He looked at the bell tower, which strangely, showed the wrong time. Looking around him, everything looked old, all wood buildings with thatch, like some English village in the seventeenth century. There was no technology in sight, which was weird. Looking around, he kind of liked it. He had never liked technology, feeling there was too much people could do wrong with it.

_The town looks nice, maybe I could stay here for a month or two. All this traveling is hard on my wallet. Oh wait, I don't have one. The last of my money had been for the train ticket. And the roll on the train. That seems like such a long time ago. It would be nice to settle down for a little bit. Not long, if I stay in one place for long, there's no telling what might happen. Maybe I'm being too paranoid. It's been three years; what's the chance that they're still looking for me. So that's decided, if I find a job and a place to sleep, I'll stay. It'll be a nice break. _

What happened next went almost too fast for Matthew to realize. First he heard wind whipping behind him, he turned around only to see about five dragons slam into him.

[Seeing boy, seeing boy] they hissed into his brain. Then their excitement, the realer-than-human emotions, flowed into him. The enthusiasm, the hunger was too much for his painfully human brain to register and everything went black.

"Arty," someone whispered above the unconscious form of Matthew. "Do you think he's okay? He's been out for a while. What happened to him anyway?"

"The dragons got loose." The voice, Arthur, sounded embarrassed.

"He got attacked by dragons?" he yelped incredulously.

"Dragons do not attack people, thank you very much."

"Then what happened?"

"For some reason, they touched him and transferred their emotions to him. It's a sensory overload and his brain blanked out."

"Huh?"

Arthur sighs.

"He fainted."

"Okay, so do you think he's okay?"

"Yes, he should be up soon."

"Fine." A couple seconds pause. "I'm bored."

"Alfred, have you ever heard of something called patience?"

"Yeah, its just not for me. Only old guys do."

"What exactly are you suggesting?"

"Arty, you're old, behind the times."

"I'm one year older than you."

"You're living in the past though."

"Why, you-" He stopped in mid- insult.

"You what?"

"The boy, I think he's waking up." They both turned to look at the still form in the bed. As they watched, Matthew fluttered his eyelids a couple times and looked up at them. He looked scared for a moment, then surveyed both of them. Matthew was using his Sight. He looked at Arthur first. Regular vision would have shown dirty blonde hair with green eyes and larger than normal eyebrows. Matthew's showed the same figure but a sharp emerald glow was emanating from him. The more shocking thing was the dragon wrapped protectively around him. He knew Arthur couldn't feel it but it was more that he had dragon protection and a dragon had left a part of its spirit there by wanting to guard him. The emerald dragon opened one of its eyes, surveyed Matthew then closed its eye dismissively, not considering the boy a threat. He looked at Alfred next.

Alfred was about sixteen and shapeshifter, he could tell. An eagle lay superimposed on him. He would look and his face would become part human and part eagle. His arms alternated between being actual arms but wings. If Matthew blinked, the feathers that laid across his human skin would change positions. It was possible that with one thought, Alfred could make the transformation from human to eagle. _What the possibilities were of two humans both with magic being in the same house? Do they know about the other's magic? Oh, right, they're probably waiting for me to say something._

"Where am I?" He asked quietly.

"This is our house." Arthur answered.

"What happened?"

"You fainted." Arthur wasn't sure how much to tell him. People with magic had to be careful with what they said, especially to complete strangers. But he knew that the boy must have some magic to be touched by the dragons. They would hurtle through most people.

"Oh." Matthew knew now that the dragons were Arthur's friends but he wasn't sure what he knew so he wouldn't tell them. "Who are you?"

"I'm Arthur Kirkland and this is-" Alfred interrupted.

"Alfred F. Jones, thank you very much. Who are you?"

"Matthew." Arthur was surprised that he left out a last name but he supposed it was only natural. They were complete strangers after all. "Thank you very much for bringing me here when I fainted. I'll be going now. I don't want to cause any more trouble than I already have."

"It's fine. Why don't you stay for dinner? Unless you have family you need to get home to." Alfred cut in there, most likely thinking of his little brother.

"I couldn't impose. I'll just go now."

"No, no, I insist." Arthur agreed. He felt bad for the boy. It didn't sound like he had any family and he seemed like a nice kid.

"If you insist. Thank you." He got out of bed and put on the glasses which had been placed on the bedside table. "Can I do anything to help get ready for dinner?"

"Not really. We're having leftovers. I just have to stick them in the microwave." Arthur replied.

"You could probably burn that too. Don't worry, I'll cook."

"Would you like me to get drinks or set the table?"

"No, its fine. You're the guest."

"I would still like to help, especially after imposing on you like this."

A few minutes later, dinner was ready. Alfred had done his best to keep Arthur as far away from the food as possible; after eating too much of his cooking, Alfred was convinced that Arthur could burn food by just being in the same room. They sat down with the food. Matthew was starving but was trying to eat slowly because he didn't want to seem impolite. Alfred inhaled his food and leaned back onto the couch. He then tried to make conversation, plus he was curious about their dinner guest.

"Hey, Matt," he asked, shortening his name. "How old are you?" Matthew looked up from the dish.

"Fifteen," he replied briefly then returned to his food.

"Do you have any family? I'm sure they're wondering where you are."

"I don't have any family." Arthur was trying to subtly inform Alfred that this was probably a too intrusive line of questioning but his gestures and expressions were missed.

"Where do you live then?"

"Nowhere."

"Where do you get food then?" Matthew shifted uncomfortably.

"I get a job in whatever town I'm in. If I'm lucky." Matthew finished the food and stood up. "Thank you for the meal. I'll be going now." He walked out of the room. Arthur shot a glare at Alfred and hurried after Matthew. He didn't want the boy to leave just because he felt uncomfortable especially if he didn't have a place to stay. Matthew was kneeling over his backpack. Arthur assumed he was checking to make sure all of his stuff was in there. He didn't blame the boy for not trusting them. He walked forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. The reaction was immediate. Matthew threw his arm forward and with it came a shield spell, a defensive type. It knocked Arthur backwards, simply because he wasn't prepared for it. Matthew looked at him in shock and horror for what he did.

Matthew turned and fled out the door. Arthur stood up slowly. The force of the shield wasn't enough to seriously hurt him but it did pack quite the punch. He wondered what could have made Matthew react like that to a hand on his shoulder but he wasn't going to leave the boy running around the streets at night. There could be French people about. Especially after seeing the boy's magic. Arthur knew better than most people what both a curse and a gift magic could be and he felt bad if some kid had only experienced the worse part of it. This town was made for people who wanted to use their magic away from others who would hate them because of it. He made the decision that he wanted to help Matthew.

Matthew was running as fast as he could threw the town. He didn't mean to hurt Arthur, especially after he'd been so nice but then he touched him and he had just reacted. He felt terrible about it but he didn't dare go back to apologize. He could tell Arthur was an experienced and powerful wizard. Previous experiences had taught him not to mess with wizards. If he could get about a mile or two away, he should be safe from magic, which gets harder as the target gets further away.

Arthur barely needed the candles to do the classic communication spell anymore. The lighted candles were more like training wheels and Arthur had passed that level long ago. But the person he was trying to contact was still a beginner and he wanted to make it as easy as possible. He chanted the Latin words he used to start the spell; everyone used different words for spells. Arthur used Latin because it was his second language and he could focus well by thinking about ancient sorcerers. In between the arrangement of candles, a face appeared. It was a girl, about eleven with a bob and a green ribbon tied in her hair.

"'Hello, Lily."

"Oh, good evening, Arthur. Is there something you need?"

"Yes, is your brother around?"

"No, he's patrolling. Would you like me to pass along the message?"

"Could you tell him that someone just broke the magic law in town?"

"Someone used magic on another! Who?"

"It's some lad that was passing through. I just want to talk to him. Tell Vash not to hurt him."

"Can I get a description?"

"He's fifteen. Blonde hair, Purple eyes, he has a backpack. I think that's it. But really how many boys are going to be running around town at this hour."

"I'll pass it on."

"Thanks." Arthur disconnected the spell.

Lily turned to her arrangement of candles. She began chanting the spell in German to alert her brother.

~~~o00o~~~

Alright, I reposted the first three chapters with a couple edits, basically, Alfred is now fifteen. I will hopefully be continuing this story now and a new chapter will go up soon. I felt really bad for discontinuing this, so I'm not anymore because I read over it one more time and figured out this was my best fic and along with the story traffic, didn't want to leave all the people reading this hanging. So it will continue! Please keep in mind that the only thing that inspires me to write(to continue and not just whatever I want) is YOU! So review, alert, favorite and so on. Suggestions would really help for inspiration and characters magic.


	2. Chapter 2

Matthew was wondering how long he should continue running to be safe. He thought he should be out of range at this point but there was no way to be sure, at least not until you find yourself blown to bits. It was an unwritten rule that if someone used magic on another, that person had a right to retaliate. He stopped running and bent over, panting from the exertion. Someone started walking up to him.

"Hey, kid!" The guy shouted. His voice didn't sound familiar. Matthew started running as fast as he could in the opposite direction. "Kid, come back here. I'm with the police. We're not going to hurt you." That just made Matthew run faster. The ache in his side returned and with more strength than ever, pounding at his side. He heard the pound of footsteps behind him get louder and he knew the man was going to catch up to him soon. He tried to pour everything into taking the next step and the next. And the next. Without noticing it, he had stopped running and slowed to a jog. The man, Vash, clamped his arm around his wrist and that's all Matthew remembered of this world.

_It was terrible. I was suddenly cut loose from everything. Everything felt icy cold. I couldn't take much longer_ _of that. I was completely cut out from the rest of the world. The worst part was my eyes though. They burned. I thought they were on fire or being burned by acid. I wanted to reach up and touch them, make sure they were there and not burned remains that use to see, that used to show me everything, both what I wanted to see and what I didn't. _

After several communication spells and a teleportation spell, Arthur appeared at the scene. He walked over and saw Vash, the only police officer and so sheriff, holding onto Matthew's wrist, Matthew who had fallen onto the ground and was now breathing shallowly with his eyes screwed up.

"What happened to him?" He asked, worried for the boy.

"I don't know. I grabbed his wrist and then that happened."

"Let go of him, fast." Although Vash seemed reluctant to let the boy go(and so disobey police protocol), he did. Vash had the exceedingly useful talent of nullifying magic just by touching it. It made him well suited for the job as policeman, seeing as most people were arrested for fighting with magic(most were drunk). When he let the boy go, his breathing slowed and after a couple minutes, his eyes opened. "Matthew, are you okay?" He looked up at Arthur.

"What happened?" he asked breathlessly.

"Vash, the sheriff has the power to nullify magic. Apparently once he touched you, you stopped responding."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Well, kind of. There's a law against using magic against others."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just got scared and reacted."

"Its fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now, I'm sorry if we asked too many questions. We were just making conversation, plus Alfred cannot read the atmosphere." Arthur didn't really know what to think about the boy, except that he brought out his parental instincts. Arthur thought he was a failure at parenting. One had only to look at Alfred. Arthur had adopted Alfred after his family had died in a fire and he knew he needed help. He had been trying to act like a father but as Alfred had loudly expressed, he didn't want another father or need one. The boy constantly skipped school, including his classes, refused to listen to anyone and didn't learn his magic, preferring to spend his time in the forest in his eagle for.

Still, Arthur felt parentally for Matthew. He had obviously been through a lot, most likely due to his possession of magic and it didn't look like he had anyone he could trust. He looked once again at the boy still sitting on the ground, trying to control his breathing and in that moment, he made his decision.

"Vash, can I ask you a favor?" At this point, Arthur was glad Vash owed him. After a brief discussion, Vash spoke to Matthew.

"You're lucky Arthur decided not to press charges but in this town as a minor, you need a guardian and Arthur has volunteered for the task. You have to stay with him until you learn your lesson." That was a legal loophole. He didn't really have a lesson to learn since he had professed that it was an accident but Vash saw the kid, he had no home, he wasn't getting enough food and he was immediately reminded of his little sister who had been found in a similar method. Matthew was now looking up at Arthur with a look mixed with gratitude and fear.

Arthur helped the boy up, he was still unsteady. He knew that it was disconcerting to suddenly lose the abilities, you were given but such a volatile reaction was uncommon. He slowly walked with Matthew leaning on him.

_Why would he do that? Maybe he's going to- no, Arthur's a nice person. He wouldn't do that. He just wants to help; that must be it. _Matthew couldn't qualm the uneasiness that came with trusting someone. _If anything suspicious happens, I'll run immediately. _But Matthew couldn't help but want to stay with the man who had been so nice to him. With that goal in mind, Matthew continued to Arthur's house and he guessed his now too.

Alfred couldn't believe he was that stupid. _I mean, I should have noticed when Matthew was feeling uncomfortable. This happens so often; you'd think I would learn by now. And now the kid doesn't have a place to stay. Then he should have gone after him; it would have been easy. Just shape shift, but I was frozen. I didn't know he would react like that. _

He was scooping ice cream depressingly into his mouth when the door opened and he looked at the new people entering.

"Hey, Arty, you're back. Oh, you found Matthew. Listen, I'm really sorry for asking too many questions. I promise I won't ask anymore if you don't want me too."

"Uhh, thanks."

"Alfred, Matthew will be staying with us."

"Coolio!" Arthur excused himself and Alfred began talking about how they could do things together when someone walked through the front door. Alfred looked to see who it was then lost interest and turned back to Matthew. The person came into the living room.

"Oh, Alfred, mon cher, did you eat without me? Quelle horror! Oh, who is this?" he asked, looking toward Matthew.

"This is Mattie. Its all right if I call you Mattie, right? He's staying with us."

"Oh, Mathieu, its a pleasure to meet you. Je m'appelle Francis."

"Nice to meet you too," Matthew mumbled. At this point, Arthur returned.

"I thought I smelled you stench, frog."

"Ah, Arthur, I'm surprised to see that Alfred hasn't been poisoned by your terrible cooking and Mathieu as well if he ate here."

"My cooking isn't bad enough to tell someone and anyway, we had a microwavable meal."

"I nuked it!" Alfred piped up.

"Oh Arthur, mon cher, what would you do without me?"

"We'd do fine, you bloody frog."

"Don't worry, mes cheris, I'll cook you something gourmet to make up for you having to eat that. Poor Mathieu hasn't yet developed an immunity to your horrible cooking and if I have anything to say about it, he won't have too. Now if you excuse me, I have cooking to do."

"I'll help," Matthew offered quietly.

"Bonne, an assistant. Has anyone ever told you would look tres mignon in an apron." Matthew was whisked to the kitchen where he was put to work. Alfred headed to his room, where you could hear music coming through the walls. Alfred read a book in his well- stocked collection and periodically, yelling at Alfred to turn the music down. Alfred wasn't supposed to have a music player. The town was strictly a no tech zone, except of course for plumbing, electricity and cooking but Alfred had managed to smuggle it in and if Arthur tried to confiscate it, Alfred refused to come home until he gave it back. He didn't know why he was so attached to the music player, but Arthur knew it was a present from his parents and so let him keep it.

Francis and Matthew emerged from the kitchen with food and they had a second dinner. Matthew hadn't wanted to say that the was still hungry, not having finished his meal but as he hadn't had anything more than a roll in two days, he was starving. He still ate slowly not wanting to overexert his stomach, plus he was trying to look polite. Alfred had no such qualms and guzzled down his food, Alfred chiding him repeatedly for his lack of manners.

~~~oOOo~~~

Abrupt ending, I'm sorry but I lost the rest and I'm going to try and find it again for the next chapter. Allright, notes: Francis cooks for them for about no reason other then stopping Arthur's cooking to be released upon the world. So in return, he lives on their couch. Even though he owns the best restaurant in town and could buy a house. Arthur thinks its just to bug him. . .he may be right. Anyway, so yeah, this will be continued but remember that the only thing that inspires me to write(to continue and not just whatever I want) is YOU! So review, alert, favorite and so on. Suggestions would really help for inspiration and characters magic. Okay, see ya later.


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